Bucks County Community College is planning to establish the county’s only police academy on its Newtown Township campus.
The Pennsylvania Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission (MPOETC) approved the creation of new police academies at Bucks County Community College and Luzerne County Community College last week.
“The creation of these new academies will generate additional opportunities for qualified individuals in Bucks, Luzerne and surrounding counties who want to become municipal police officers,” said Pennsylvania State Police Major William A. Brown, MPOETC’s executive director.
The college issued a statement saying the plan is in its “early stages.”
“We are pleased that our application has taken the next step toward bringing vital law enforcement training to Bucks County,” said Bucks County Community College President and CEO Patrick Jones. “It’s notable that our initiative received letters of support from all three Bucks County Commissioners, all 13 members of our state legislative delegation, the police chiefs of Bucks County, and the Bucks County sheriff.”
Dr. Samantha Gross, dean of the college’s School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, said the idea was first raised by faculty in the criminal justice program.
“The idea of having a police academy at our college is something that’s always been on the radar of our criminal justice faculty,” Gross said. “We worked as a team on the application, and our faculty’s knowledge and expertise were indispensable throughout the process.”
She identified the faculty members as Professor Robert J. Ritchie, Dr. Robert F. Ritchie, Professor Al Sigafoos, and Professor Sarah Jakub.
Some of the faculty are police officers.
The planned academy will offer the state’s mandatory 919-hour Act 120 basic police officer training, which prepares individuals for certification in Pennsylvania, Gross said. The program will offer both full- and part-time training schedules. Officials said the Newtown campus was chosen due to its ample classroom space and facilities.
Currently, many officers hired by Bucks County law enforcement agencies are trained at academies led by the Philadelphia Police Department, Temple University, and Montgomery County Community College.
Democratic State Rep. Brian Munroe, a former police officer and MPOETC member, advocated for the project.
“Establishing a police academy right here in Bucks County opens law enforcement opportunities to more of our residents from the outset,” Munroe said. “My hope in opening a new academy at BCCC is that more of our bright young people choose to learn here and stay here long into the future.”
State Rep. Tim Brennan, a Democrat, said the academy is a positive step for public safety in the county.
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Bucks County and Luzerne County community colleges were the only two educational facilities in the state to advance in the most recent round of approvals. Other applicants, including Elizabethtown College in Lancaster County, Penn State DuBois in Clearfield County, and PennWest University in Clarion County, were approved to submit full applications but did not move forward.
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